A new poll published by the Center for the Study of Crime Law and Society at the University of Haifa has revealed that only 14 percent of the Jewish Israeli public has complete trust in the Israel Police Force.
Professor Aryeh Rattner, director of the Center, said that more than double that number - 38.5 percent of those surveyed - expressed a total lack of trust in police.
The numbers have steadily dropped since 2002, when 50 percent of the public reported that they trusted the police force and only 13 percent expressed a lack of trust.
This may lead to demonstrations of contempt for the rule of law.
Within a year, the number of Israelis who expressed a high level of trust in police had dropped to 36 percent, although the number of those who said they did not trust law enforcement officers remained at 13 percent.
Prof. Rattner said the statistics are ominous signs that the social fabric of the Jewish State is being strained to a point that may soon bring a rise in crime and social services statistics.
“The results of the survey point to a serious blow to the legitimacy the Israeli public grants – or doesn’t grant – to the police,” said Rattner. “This loss of legitimacy may lead to demonstrations of contempt for the rule of law and a decrease in the level of respect for and compliance with the law,” he added.
Researchers questioned 1,625 Jewish Israelis over the past several weeks as part of a multi-year study that has tracked the level of trust in the country’s police force since 2000.
Faith in a different sector of Jewish leadership has also dropped to record lows, according to a Geocartographia poll released this week.
An overwhelming majority of 74.4 percent of the respondents said they favor dissolving the Knesset, the highest figures since former Labor Prime Minister Ehud Barak was forced to call elections less than two years after being voted into office.
In a Geocartographia poll conducted in November 2006, the majority of respondents said they were in favor of the resignations of then-IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz and Defense Minister Amir Peretz (Labor), who has remained in his post. More than half of the respondents – 53 percent – said that Prime Minster Ehud Olmert of the Kadima Party should resign his post or call new elections.
Within two months, Halutz resigned. Peretz and Olmert have continued in their posts, although the Prime Minister is currently under investigation on allegations of corruption in previous government posts. Former Justice Minister Chaim Ramon, a leading Kadima member, was forced to resign his post after being charged with sexual misconduct. Ramon was later convicted.
Recent polls have showed that if elections were held today, the Kadima party would shrink to approximately half its current size of 29 Knesset seats.
Professor Aryeh Rattner, director of the Center, said that more than double that number - 38.5 percent of those surveyed - expressed a total lack of trust in police.
The numbers have steadily dropped since 2002, when 50 percent of the public reported that they trusted the police force and only 13 percent expressed a lack of trust.
This may lead to demonstrations of contempt for the rule of law.
Within a year, the number of Israelis who expressed a high level of trust in police had dropped to 36 percent, although the number of those who said they did not trust law enforcement officers remained at 13 percent.
Prof. Rattner said the statistics are ominous signs that the social fabric of the Jewish State is being strained to a point that may soon bring a rise in crime and social services statistics.
“The results of the survey point to a serious blow to the legitimacy the Israeli public grants – or doesn’t grant – to the police,” said Rattner. “This loss of legitimacy may lead to demonstrations of contempt for the rule of law and a decrease in the level of respect for and compliance with the law,” he added.
Researchers questioned 1,625 Jewish Israelis over the past several weeks as part of a multi-year study that has tracked the level of trust in the country’s police force since 2000.
Faith in a different sector of Jewish leadership has also dropped to record lows, according to a Geocartographia poll released this week.
An overwhelming majority of 74.4 percent of the respondents said they favor dissolving the Knesset, the highest figures since former Labor Prime Minister Ehud Barak was forced to call elections less than two years after being voted into office.
In a Geocartographia poll conducted in November 2006, the majority of respondents said they were in favor of the resignations of then-IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz and Defense Minister Amir Peretz (Labor), who has remained in his post. More than half of the respondents – 53 percent – said that Prime Minster Ehud Olmert of the Kadima Party should resign his post or call new elections.
Within two months, Halutz resigned. Peretz and Olmert have continued in their posts, although the Prime Minister is currently under investigation on allegations of corruption in previous government posts. Former Justice Minister Chaim Ramon, a leading Kadima member, was forced to resign his post after being charged with sexual misconduct. Ramon was later convicted.
Recent polls have showed that if elections were held today, the Kadima party would shrink to approximately half its current size of 29 Knesset seats.